This is post # 1497 on the PILGRIM SCRIBBLINGS site. It's hard to believe that we have been scribbling this long. We celebrated our 3rd anniversary in November. Three more posts and we'll be at 1500.
My writer/pastor friend Greg Asimakoupoulos has gathered up a "best of" collection of his finest poems and they're available in a new book entitled RHYMES & REASONS. I've reprinted many of Greg's work on the Pilgrim Scribblings blog in the past and have received a favorable response from our readers. I know you'll enjoy this compilation of Greg's work. You can order it through Amazon. Check it out! You won't be disappointed!"My friend Greg Asimakoupoulos communicates timeless truths through timely rhymes. His little poems pay big dividends — in wit, insight and inspiration."
—Michael Medved, Nationally Syndicated Talk Radio Host
"Rarely does a game go by without my pastor and friend Greg Asimakoupoulos penning a poem that captures what occurred on the field in a fun and creative way. It always brings a smile to my face when I read his weekly Rhymes and Reasons."
—Mike Holmgren, Head Coach of the Seattle Seahawks"Greg is able to use his special gifts to share truth, compassion, faith, humor and God's love. When life's trials were at a peak for our family, his poetic and sensitive words brought comfort."
—Peggy Beamer, Mother of September 11th patriot Todd Beamer
"Greg Asimakoupoulos is truly gifted. I don’t know of anyone who can reveal an insight related to a current event or moral value with more creativity and wisdom than Greg. He’s amazing. He’s clever. He’s quick. And on top of all his creativity he’s thoroughly grounded. Read Rhymes and Reasons and prepare to be inspired."
—Les Parrott, Ph.D., Author of Love Talk
Last night the Windsor Spitfires hockey team paid tribute to their captain Mickey Renaud who died suddenly two weeks ago.
Readers of Pilgrim Scribblings will know that Elisabeth Elliot is one of my heroes. Her life, her books and her ministry have challenged me for many years.
The following devotional thoughts appeared today (February 29th - Leap Year) in Watchman Nee's (pictured) excellent book A Table in the Wilderness. Great food for thought...
"Christ's call is to save the lost, not the stiff-necked; He came not to call scoffers but sinners to repentance; not to build and furnish comfortable chapels, churches, and cathedrals at home in which to rock Christian professors to sleep by means of clever essays, stereotyped prayers, and artistic musical performances, but to capture men from the devil's clutches and the very jaws of hell. This can be accomplished only by a red-hot, unconventional, unfettered devotion, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to the Lord Jesus Christ."
- C.T. Studd (1860-1931), Missionary to China and Africa
Today I got to see the home we bought for the first time. While I was away last weekend Carol found a house she liked, called me about it, put in an offer and after some negotiating if was accepted.
Carol picked up this book (pictured) at a thrift store recently. The title caught my attention. FAMOUS LETTERS, Messages and Thoughts That Shaped Our World.
I saw this picture somewhere as I was surfing around some blogs this afternoon. 
As a veteran of over 30 years in sports ministry I've been strangely silent on the steroids situation (notice the 4 s's?) Friends who I've met have been implicated. Time (or maybe just eternity) will reveal the truth, the facts. 
The great Church of England preacher/writer from a previous generation, J. C. Ryle, once said, “You may be very sure men fall in private long before they fall in public. They are backsliders on their knees long before they backslide openly in the eyes of the world."
Watch and pray!
It always looks great when Mike Fisher scores a goal. Here's another shot of a goal by "Fish" against the Islanders.
One of the stanzas of William Cowper's great hymn O For A Closer Walk With God came to mind this evening as I was lost in thought. Can you sense the angst in the hymnwriter's heart that caused him to pen these lyrics? I can and I share much if not all of his sentiments.
O For A Closer Walk With God
O for a closer walk with God,
A calm and heavenly frame,
A light to shine upon the road
That leads me to the Lamb!
Where is the blessedness I knew,
When first I saw the Lord?
Where is the soul refreshing view
Of Jesus and His Word?
What peaceful hours I once enjoyed!
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void
The world can never fill.
Return, O holy Dove, return,
Sweet messenger of rest!
I hate the sins that made Thee mourn
And drove Thee from my breast.
The dearest idol I have known,
Whate’er that idol be
Help me to tear it from Thy throne,
And worship only Thee.
So shall my walk be close with God,
Calm and serene my frame;
So purer light shall mark the road
That leads me to the Lamb.
The wicked king Ahab
February 7th, 2008
Note: This poem came to me this morning as I was preparing to preach on this passage from 1 Kings 16 & 17.
Recently I asked a pastor friend of mine who he'd like to spend a day with (someone alive or dead but not Jesus Christ) to pick his or her brain. His initial response was, "that's a good question!" but he had to think awhile before he came up with an answer. 
The New York Giants upset the favored New England Patriots in last night's Super Bowl XLII.
Here's another thought-provoking, comfortable-living wrecking devotional from A. W. Tozer:
During my 33 plus years of baseball ministry I have crossed paths with thousands of ballplayers and have become friends with hundreds of them. Corey Koskie is one of those men who I connected with. The last year and a half has been difficult for Koskie, a Christian who loves the Lord.
Here’s an update on Corey’s post-concussion battle:
Corey Koskie is coming to grips with the notion that his playing career might be history. The next chapter in his baseball life probably will consist of doling out sunscreen, hitting grounders to a bunch of elementary schoolers and revving up the minivan for a postgame trip to Dairy Queen.
In his transition from professional third baseman to Little League dad, Koskie has found that some emotional hurdles are more difficult to surmount than others. Each night, he leads his three young sons through their bedtime prayers. During one recent session, he asked the boys if they had any special requests.
"God, can you please heal my daddy's head?'' asked Bradley, the oldest at age 7. Prayer can be a powerful thing. But as Koskie has discovered, no amount of faith or introspection can rewrite the past or un-ring a bell.
It's been 18 months since Koskie took a seemingly innocuous tumble in pursuit of a Felipe Lopez pop fly in Milwaukee, and he hasn't played a game since. After an aborted comeback attempt in the Cactus League and a summer spent at home in Minnesota watching the Brewers from a distance, he became a free agent in October when Milwaukee management declined to exercise his $6.5 million option for 2008.
When Koskie isn't riding a stationary bike or taking a spin on the treadmill, he is sorting through the medical bills. Over the past year, Koskie has visited the Mayo Clinic and conferred with Drs. Michael Collins and Robert Cantu, two of the most renowned authorities on post-concussion syndrome.
Several months ago, he began working with Stephanie Smith, a professional trainer who specializes in PCS. Koskie has made considerable strides with Smith's help, and he recently felt a "flicker of hope'' after playing a spirited game of ice hockey with his boys and feeling few of the usual side effects.
Still, it's a long way from working up a sweat in the backyard to playing Major League Baseball again, and Koskie doesn't want to tease himself or a prospective suitor with unreasonable expectations. He has told his agents, Pat Rooney and Brian David, that he'll let them know when he's ready.
"If somebody out there wants to give me a shot, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it,'' Koskie said. "But I don't want to leave teams in limbo. I don't want to deal with that whole thing of, 'Hey, when are you gonna be ready?' This has to happen on its own timetable.''
While concussions are commonplace in football, hockey, boxing and other "collision'' sports, Koskie is part of a much smaller fraternity in baseball. It was like a bolt from the blue last year when catcher Mike Matheny, widely regarded as one of the game's toughest customers, announced his retirement because of concussion-related issues.
In St. Louis, Jim Edmonds endured bouts of dizziness and blurred vision after slamming his head against the warning track in pursuit of a fly ball in 2006. Edmonds worked through his problems and is ticketed to play center field for San Diego this season.
Koskie, in contrast, is stuck in a sort of netherworld between acceptance and denial. He's not so bereft of hope that he's ready to call it quits, but he's realistic enough to know what the future holds.
Koskie has been through the wringer since spring training of 2007. For a while, he was bothered by a persistent ache at the base of his neck. While that pain gradually subsided, he discovered everyday tasks could produce debilitating results. The simple acts of driving a car, watching television or checking e-mail on the computer left him dizzy and overcome by nausea. He also was plagued by chronic fatigue.
When the Brewers visited Minneapolis in June, Koskie made the short drive to the Metrodome to see his Milwaukee teammates. But the lights and the hubbub around the ballpark overloaded his system, and he had to go upstairs for some solitude and fresh air.
Along the way, Koskie has found solace in talking to fellow ballplayers in the same boat. He has discovered a helpful sounding board in Matheny, who now is feeling well enough that he is talking about going to spring training and helping out with the Cardinals and Giants.
Koskie also shared a "eureka'' moment with former Twins teammate and fellow Canada native Justin Morneau, who has suffered a concussion or two along the way.
"We were talking, and Justin asked me, 'Does it feel like everything is going by in slow motion -- like stuff has sped up and you're always a half-second behind everything?' I told him, 'Yeah, that's exactly how I feel!''' Koskie said.
Koskie is encouraged by his progress with Smith, a certified athletic trainer who worked at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and helps run the Twins Cities Northern Lights, a Junior A hockey team in Bloomington, Minn. Smith takes a "holistic'' approach to recovery that allows Koskie to work out at his home, where he can be free of distractions and avoid getting behind the wheel of a car, which tends to trigger his symptoms.
She also is flexible. If Koskie is able to do 10 minutes on the exercise bike or treadmill on a given day and elevate his heart rate beyond 150 beats per minute, that's fine. If he feels sluggish and needs to shut down, that's fine, too.
One of the biggest challenges for Koskie is pulling in the reins when he has been conditioned to try to work through obstacles.
"Athletes, by their very nature, are competitive,'' Smith said. "There's a serious drive in them to do the best they can at their sport. If somebody tells you that your biggest job right now is to rest, that's counterintuitive. The natural inclination is to work harder and do everything you can to get back out there. But there can be serious setbacks if you return to the sport too quickly.''
The struggles of Matheny and Koskie have raised awareness of concussions in MLB, and that's produced some welcome changes. This year, for the first time, baseball instituted a baseline concussion testing program for all 30 clubs in conjunction with player physical exams. Many clubs already used Web-based software to test players, but now it's mandatory across the board.
Milwaukee general manager Doug Melvin said concussions pose a challenge for clubs in several ways: 1) The team trainer might be too overtaxed to give the player in question the requisite attention. 2) The player with a concussion might feel a sense of "guilt'' because he is incapacitated, even though he looks fine. 3) There is no specific road map to recovery.
"There's not much the trainer can do,'' Melvin said. "It's not like a labrum tear or a ligament in your elbow, where there's an actual outline for what to do. You'll throw from 40 feet and extend it to 90, or go from a soft-toss program to long-tossing. From a concussion standpoint, there's nothing the trainers and doctors feel is a perfect cure.''
The athlete's best allies are patience and time, and Koskie has an abundance of each. While he waits for his story to play out, he's kicking around the idea of writing a book about his experiences. What will the ending be? Who knows?
"I just want to get my life back,'' Koskie said.
After 18 months with too many headaches and not enough answers, it's about time.
This week I received a copy of the late Ruth Bell Graham's book Letters From Ruth's Attic. This is a collection of 31 short devotionals that have previously been published in Decision magazine.
